Seminole commissioners late Tuesday approved raising the county’s overall property tax rate for the first time in 16 years, saying it was an unpalatable but necessary move to pay for the rising costs of insurance, inflation and law enforcement salaries.

“We take no pleasure in the costs going up or the situation that we are in,” Commissioner Amy Lockhart said before voting for the tax increase. “But it’s our responsibility to provide all the services for all our constituents in the most cost-effective way that we can.”

The new rate of $5.38 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable value will take effect Oct. 1 and is a 10.2% increase from the long-standing current rate of $4.88. Under the new rate, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $300,000 would see a hike of $150 in their propert

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